Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading 3.6% Higher - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Salesforce shares increased by 3.6% during trading, reaching a high of $256.74 and closing at $245.09, with trading volume significantly above average.
• A range of analyst ratings have emerged, with Sanford C. Bernstein downgrading the stock to "underperform," while Piper Sandler maintains an "overweight" rating with a $315 price target.
• The company reported strong quarterly earnings, with $2.91 earnings per share and a revenue of $10.24 billion, exceeding analyst expectations and showing a 9.8% year-over-year growth.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) shares were up 3.6% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $256.74 and last traded at $245.09. Approximately 24,782,497 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 219% from the average daily volume of 7,764,303 shares. The stock had previously closed at $236.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $255.00 to $221.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 18th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Northland Securities cut Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $264.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Twenty-five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $325.72.

Salesforce Trading Up 3.6%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $233.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.62, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $244.22 and a 200-day moving average of $258.21.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.56 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th were paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 17th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.91, for a total transaction of $553,297.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,929,174,424.61. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 78,750 shares of company stock worth $19,572,233 in the last three months. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Coign Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.7% during the first quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $586,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% during the first quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 3,343 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $897,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. KDT Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.1% during the first quarter. KDT Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% during the first quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 3,165 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $849,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 7.3% during the first quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 572 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.

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